Hey everyone so I am back from my spring break, don’t worry I didn’t do anything to crazy, however I was able to make it to the Avs game against Calgary on St. Patty’s day. Heading into that contest against the Flames, the Avs were on a roll with a 3 game win streak featuring a 3-0 shutout against Florida and 5-3 victories against Dallas and St. Louis. Since the Calgary game was on St. Patty’s day the Pepsi Center was decked out in green for the event, although I was quite disappointed by the attendance at the game. The game was honestly maybe about half full and me and my friends had no problem sneaking from our 3rd level nose bleed seats into the 1st section just to the left of the Calgary’s net. The game was hard to watch though as the Avs seemed to be dragging the entire game and were just plain and simple dominated by the Flames as they jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead against the Avs. The game would end 3-2, but trust me the score makes it look better than it actually was.
The Avs followed up that performance against Calgary with another dreadful game against the Ducks, which in the end they would drop 5-2. Following the two losses, Colorado headed to L.A. on 3/22 for a pivotal 2 game home-home series against the Kings. These two games would be very important to the Avs in terms of the playoff race because not only did it give them a chance to gain ground on the Kings, who were currently one spot ahead of the Avs, but also could give them some breathing room from the surging Detroit Red Wings who currently hold the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. The Avs were able to climb their way out and salvage a point in the first game thanks to a goal by T.J. Galiardi with about 9 seconds left to tie the game 3-3. They would later lose in OT on a power play goal by King’s defenseman Drew Doughty, but as I said they did get one point in the lose, which at this point of the season every point is important. Two days later the teams would meet again except in Colorado, but just like the first game, this one too would head to OT tied 3-3, this time thanks to a late power play goal by L.A.’s Alexander Frolov with just under 2 minutes left in the game. Yet this time the end results would be different as 5 minutes of OT play could not produce a winner so a shoot out would be necessary. The Avs would go 2-3 on their shoot out shots, and their win would be sealed as former Av Ryan Smyth’s shoot out attempt rang off the cross bar. This short series between the Kings and Avs ended up well for both teams as they both were able to obtain 3 precious points in the standings and gave the Avs an important 6 point lead over the 9th place, and currently out of the playoffs, Calgary Flames.
The Avs take the ice again this Saturday night in Phoenix as they take on the 4th place Coyotes. Once again Wolski and Mueller take on their former teams, and it appears that this trade has been beneficial for both teams. During the 11 games since the trade Peter Mueller has tallied 15 points for the Avs while Wolski has collected 9 in the same amount of games as the Coyotes have gone 9-1-1 in that stretch. Well looks like Saturday’s match is lining up to be a good one so be sure to check it out. I leave you this week with a link to the Avalanche’s plays of the week for March 19th-25th. Enjoy and be sure to vote for your favorite play.
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=522841&navid=DL|COL|home
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The Avs have been doing great this year, but after looking at the most recent rankings, I am a bit nervous for them. They played a good San Jose team and stuck with them, but the final 8 spot needs to be looked at closely. However, I do feel that the Avs will make the playoffs and do very well once they are there! Go Avs!
The Avalanche plays of the week link is pretty cool. Hopefully the Avs will make the playoffs. No one originally expected too much from them this year, so even talking about the playoffs is a good thing.